CANANDAIGUA — With a tax agreement and site plan nearing approval in local government, many are wondering when they will see evidence of the North Shore development on Lakeshore Drive.

While the timeline of the project is dependent on many factors, developers say work will begin as early as June.

Before the developer can break ground on the 21-acre mixed-use project, the ailing site must first be cleaned up through the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Brownfield Program, which will include the removal of dangerous contaminants from the site. Developers estimate that process will take approximately six to eight months, then the construction will commence.

The cleanup program allows a property owner to work with the DEC to clean up the site and provides tax credits to the developer based on the cost of the cleanup and the private investment. For this project, the developer will be granted $4 million in tax credits.

In order for developers to receive the tax credits, they must meet a strict deadline. The limited timeline for the cleanup is due to a looming “sunset date” for the tax credits, which requires site remediation to be complete with a DEC certificate of completion by Dec. 31, 2015 under state law.

Developer Morgan-LeChase must first purchase the land from current property owner David Genecco before site remediation can begin, a transaction that should take place within the next few months.

“We are aiming for June to begin cleanup, which means DEC approval and all land ownership is in place,” said Morgan-LeChase spokesperson Jennifer Miglioratti. “We need both of those to begin. While they are happening in parallel, one could finish sooner.”

Once the DEC marks the cleanup as complete, developers can break ground on phase one of the $116 million project. The project will be built in five phases, the first phase being constructed on the western end of Lakeshore Drive and including a mix of retail stores and apartments.

According to the DEC documents at Wood Library, the Brownfield site is 15.5 acres of the 21-acre site set to be developed on Lakeshore Drive. The seven parcels include 24, 26, 28, 30, 130 and 158 Lakeshore Drive and 25 Booth St. That list includes the properties that house Nolan’s on Canandaigua Lake and Scoops. The other five lots are vacant.

Genecco first applied for Brownfield remediation in October 2011, and the application was approved in September 2012. The remedial investigation work plan was approved May 14, 2013, and the DEC estimated then that the investigation into the site would take about a year.

The investigation was performed by Sarah-Frank, LLC, a David Genecco company with oversight by the DEC and the New York State Department of Health. According to the DEC, a preliminary investigation by the landowner submitted as part of the Brownfield application revealed petroleum, lead and arsenic were all found on the site.

Page 2 of 2 - Those who have advocated for developers to receive a controversial PILOT Increment Financing agreement (PIF) reference the Brownfield cleanup as a key reason to approve the tax deal.

Morgan-LeChase will not receive the Brownfield tax credits unless the development is completed, and developers say they cannot go forward without the PIF. Therefore, supporters claim the PIF is required to ensure site remediation.

City and county officials have both said that, at the very least, giving developers the $11 million in PIF tax relief needed to develop will ensure the site is cleaned up — even if the development is not successful in the future.

“With respect to the Brownfield remediation program, that is state funding that has been committed because this site is going to be statutorily a problem for the City of Canandaigua,” said Kevin Hoffman, the senior project manager at Morgan-LeChase, at a March 19 county meeting. “The time frame for the program is now limited. Something has to be implemented before (the end of) 2015 or the funds will go away and what you’ll have there is a contaminated site with no realistic source of funding for remediation other than the City of Canandaigua taxpayers.”

While the tax deal is still awaiting approval by the Ontario County Board of Supervisors, which is slated to vote April 17, Miglioratti said the PIF approval process is not slowing down the ownership and cleanup timetable for Morgan-LeChase.

“There are many processes that are taking place independent of each other that will overlap,” Miglioratti said.

City Council is slated to approve the final site plan for phase one of the North Shore project at its meeting tonight, at 7 p.m. in City Hall, 2 N. Main St.